Project properties

Title Assessing the effectiveness of climate change adaptation strategies on soil erosion
Group Soil Physics and Land Management group
Project type thesis
Credits 24-39
Supervisor(s) Jantiene Baartman
Examiner(s) Coen Ritsema
Contact info jantiene.baartman@wur.nl
Begin date 2021/05/25
End date
Description Many studies show that soil erosion will increase under climate change, because of the expected increase in extreme precipitation. Adaptation strategies are needed to prevent wide-scale land degradation of agricultural fields, but also to prevent the negative off-site impacts, such as reservoir sedimentation. Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are increasingly promoted as a climate change adaptation strategy, which have the ability of counteracting the on-site and off-site impact of climate change on soil erosion and sediment yield. NbSinclude measures taken at the source, such as reduced tillage and cover crops in agricultural fields, but also measures taken in the channel network, such as buffer strips and stream restoration.

Research Objective/Question

This MSc thesis project aims to assess the effectiveness of Nature-based Solutions as a climate change adaptation strategy in a semi-arid catchment in Southeast Spain, where climate change is expected to cause a significant increase in soil erosion and sediment yield.

What is expected from the student (type of research)

The student will apply the SPHY model, which is a hydrological model coupled with a soil erosion and sediment transport module. The model will be applied in a reference scenario, with climate data (precipitation and temperature) obtained from the period 1971-2000. The impact of climate change on land degradation will be assessed with climate data obtained from a number of climate models. A representative and realistic NbSwill be selected and implemented in the model, which most likely involves a sensitivity analysis of related model parameters. This might also involve some modifications to the model code (Python) to be able to simulate NbSin the SPHY model. When the NbSis fine-tuned in the reference scenario, the NbSwill be implemented in the future scenarios. By comparing the different scenarios, it will be assessed how effective the NbSto mitigate the impact of climate change on soil erosion and sediment yield.
Used skills
Requirements GIS experience, modelling experience (e.g. R, Python; useful)